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Friday, March 14, 2014

“My daughter has something she wants to say,” Mom said, once
we returned to the room where Losten laid.

No I don’t, I thought.You have something you want me to say.

I stepped forward from behind Mom and glanced down at the
coffee table that sat between myself and Losten.“I’m sorry for what I did to you,” I managed
to say.

“Go on,” Mom said.“Tell him you regret it.”

I looked over at my mother.It was one thing to force an apology out of me, it was another to force
me to lie all together, especially given how much my family talks about truth
and honor.

“I can’t say that,” I managed to say, after a few seconds.It would be a lie.I mean, I regret that he suffered.I don’t regret peering into his mind to keep
us safe.”

“I apologize for my daughter’s rudeness,” Mom said, a bit
too quickly in my opinion.“I assure
you, this is not how our family treats visitors.”

“What an ungrateful little hussy you are,” Emerys shouted.

My sister’s comment stung.It was one thing to not be appreciated by my family, but another to be
called that.

“If you had been more careful of who you show your tail
too,” I replied, louder than was wise, “I wouldn’t have had to do what I did to
your boyfriend.”

“So, this is all my fault?” my sister retorted.

“Ladies,” my mother said, but it was of no use.Emerys shouted something again about how she
wished I would behave like a lady and I retorted that if she had used her wits,
she would have suspected her boyfriend too.

Our quarrel was interrupted by none other than Emerys’ beau,
who shouted, “I accept!”

My mother, sister, and I grew quiet.

“What?” Emerys asked.

“I said I accept Crystellen’s apology,” Losten replied.“On one condition though, I want to know why
you suspected me.”

What?He accepted my
apology?I opened my mouth and then shut
it.After a long pause I finally
spoke.“You accept my apology?After all I did?And pried into your thoughts?You accept my apology?”

He nodded.

This guy must be totally into my sister, I thought.I wouldn’t have accepted a half-hearted
apology if I was him.

“Wow,” I finally managed to say, “you must really like her a
lot to be that forgiving.”

“Crystellen!” Emerys snapped.“What did I say earlier?”

I looked at my sister and then back at Losten.Oh yeah, I thought, I’m supposed to behave
like a lady, per my sister.Em gave me
an unpleasant stare.

“I thought it was too coincidental,” I replied.“She saved you, then you just happened to be
in her class, you just happened to tutor her, you just happened to start
dating.It seemed too much like
something out of a fairy tale.”

“What’d you think?” Emerys inquired.“He purposefully crashed his car into the
James River so we could meet?”

I looked over at her.Hadn’t we been through this all ready?“Yes.If I wanted to find a
mermaid, that’s what I would do.Fake a
car crash.Get rescued.Maybe even find some way to take pictures of
the mermaid.And, then try to track her
down later.”

“Well, I’m not a Manicotti,” Losten said, “or whatever those
pasta people are called.”

“Besides,” Emerys asked, “don’t you think I would have
figured out if he was?”

I looked at my sister.“Do you really want me to answer?” I replied.“I saw how you looked at him when you two
danced.You were no longer
objective.After he saw your tail, I
realized that I had to take measures to protect you.”To protect us all, I thought.

I didn’t speak.I saw
no reason to have another argument with my sister, and I couldn’t see how
speaking further would do any good.Plus, I had probably said too much, since I just revealed that I had
spied on them at the dance, which my sister all ready knew.

Finally, Losten turned to my sister and spoke.“How did she see us dancing?Was she there?”

“Not exactly,” Emerys said.“Do you remember the nosy fish I referred to when we were dancing on the
dock?”

He nodded.

Oh, great, I thought.Now she’s going to tell him about her pet name for me.I rolled my eyes.Me and my big mouth.

Emerys nodded.“We
can sense another mermaid, but only if she has her tail out.I knew a mermaid was near, and since my
sister was in the water that night, I thought it was her.I figured she was just a nosy teenager spying
on her older sister.I had no idea she
suspected you of malice.”After a
moment, Emerys grinned.“My nickname for
her is nosy fish.She really hates it
when I call her that.”

Thank you for telling him, I thought.You could have just kept that part to
yourself.

“I saw the way you looked at him,” I said.“I had to protect you, the way you used to
protect me.”

“I never put cassidium in anyone’s food,” Emerys said.She glanced at me and then Losten.“And I never will either.”

I stared at Emerys’ beau for a long time.I really had made him suffer, and as it
turned out, rather unnecessarily.“I’m
sorry for the pain I put you through,” I managed to say.“I hope you understand I had no other way.”

“Yes, you had another way,” Mom said.“You could have told me your plans, which I
would have told you were a bad idea.Then, after you met him, you could have told me if you still had
concerns.”

Mom proceeded to tell the story of how Grammy poisoned my
father, which I had heard before.

“So,” she continued, “picture your poor father in agony the
next time you consider using it.”After
a minute she asked, “Where did you even get cassidium anyway?”

I motioned upstairs.“Years
ago, Grammy showed me where she kept it in her trunk.”

Mom started towards the door when I continued.

“I used up the last of it.Grammy just showed it to me.She
didn’t know I was using it.That’s why I
guessed at the dosage.”

“I’m still going to talk to my mother.”Emily turned to him.“Once again, Losten, I’m sorry for what my
family has done to you.”She turned and
left the room.

Do I still have to stay, I wondered, now that Mom’s
gone?Emerys ran her hands through Losten’s
hair and rubbed his cheek.I figured
this was as good a time as any and quietly exited the room.

Monday, March 10, 2014

I sat
on the couch for over an hour before my mother finally let me be excused.Somebody needed to make Losten’s supper, but
since my mother insisted that she do it and banned me from the kitchen, I
convinced her to at least let me head upstairs.

I’m not
sure why Mom relented, but I, for one, had grown tired of Emerys’ hate
stairs.Didn’t she know I was just doing
this to protect us?To protect her?

I laid
down on my bed and stared at the ceiling.Why didn’t Emerys understand how obviously contrived this situation had
appeared.A guy she saved just happened
to be in her class.Just happened to
meet her in the library.Just happened
to offer to tutor her.Just happened to
ask her to a dance.Just happened to
start dating her.

I don’t
think the circumstances could have been more contrived.So, of course, I wanted to peer into his
mind.Someone had to keep us all safe,
and given the way she talked about him, it certainly wasn’t going to be
her.I think he would have had to hold
up a big sign that said, ‘I’m the Manicotti’ for her to suspect him.

Em, I
thought, why couldn’t you be more like me?Why did you have to get yourself so wrapped up in this guy that you could
no longer be objective?

A tear
ran down the side of my face.I wiped it
away with my hand.Oh, great.Just what I need everyone seeing.

I laid
there for a long time before Mom appeared at my door.

“Young
lady,” she said, “it’s time for you to come downstairs and apologize.”

“Apologize
for what?” I replied.

Mom
gave me an unpleasant stare.I knew that
my remark would cost me an extra shift in the water, but I got tired of no one
appreciating what I’d done to keep us safe.

“Come,
young lady,” she said.I knew protesting
would only make the inevitable worse, so I got out of bed, changed into some
blue jeans, and followed her downstairs.

About Crystellen

I'm a 16 year-old (more or less) living in Norfolk, Virginia. I like swimming (with my legs), reading, and having a good time. Oh, yeah, I'm also a character from "The Tale of Emerys Treasure." This is my chance to tell my story (not everything in my life revolves around my sister), though I do let Cliffie post here once in a while. (He thinks just because he's the author that he somehow has the right...)

About Cliffie

After studying mechanical engineering and working as an engineer, I decided to quit grad school and write a novel (The Tale of Emerys Treasure), which is for sale on Amazon. The characters in this blog come (for the most part) from my novel. If you want to know more about me, check out my webpage: www.cliffiecoates.com